Manage systemd Services and Units

Things on this page are fragmentary and immature notes/thoughts of the author. Please read with your own judgement!

1. List all services names.

    :::bash
    service --status-all

2. List all systemd units.

    :::bash
    systemctl 

3. Disable a service.

    :::bash
    systemctl disable service_name

4. Check whether systemd is running as PID 1.

    :::bash
    ps --no-headers -o comm 1

A List of Services to Disable¶

Safe to Disable¶

1. bluetooth

    :::bash
    sudo systemctl disable bluetooth

2. openvpn

    :::bash
    sudo systemctl disable openvpn

3. virtualbox

    :::bash
    sudo systemctl disable virtualbox

4. packagekit

    :::bash
    sudo systemctl mask packagekit

   Notice that subcommand systemctl mask (instead of systemctl disable) is used as systemctl disable does not work in this case. For the difference between systemctl disable and systemctl mask, please refer to What is the difference between “systemctl mask” and “systemctl disable”? .

Controversial Ones¶

1. snapd

    :::bash
    sudo systemctl disable snapd.service
    sudo systemctl disable snapd.socket
    sudo systemctl disable snapd.seeded
    sudo systemctl disable snapd.snap-repair.timer

References¶

• How to know if I am using systemd on Linux?

• Convenient way to check if system is using systemd or sysvinit in BASH? [duplicate]

• How To Use Systemctl to Manage Systemd Services and Units

• What is the difference between “systemctl mask” and “systemctl disable”?